Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

The Home Works is the generic name used for the four groups of gunpowder mills located close to Faversham: Ospringe, Chart, Kings and Lower & Bennetts mills. Gunpowder was manufactured here from the 16th century, the works finally closing in 1934. From around 1760 to 1825, the mills were owned by the Crown and known as the Royal Gunpowder Mills. The sites of the mills have been largely built over but part of the Chart Mill has been restored by the Faversham Society.

Monument Types

• GUNPOWDER WORKS (Demolished, Post Medieval to Modern - 1700 AD? to 1934 AD? (at some time))
• LEAT (Post Medieval to Modern - 1700 AD? to 1934 AD? (at some time))
• MILL POND (Demolished, Post Medieval to Modern - 1700 AD? to 1934 AD? (at some time))

Full description

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Home Works was the generic name given to the group of gunpowder mills located around Faversham. These mills were: Chart, Ospringe, Kings and Lower & Bennetts. When these sites first came into use is not entirely clear although powder production had begun in Faversham around 1560. The Home Works were purchased by the Crown to form the first Royal Gunpowder Mills during the Seven Years War. In 1825 they were sold to Messers James Hall and Sons, later passing into the hands of Messers Curtis and Harvey. After the First World War they became part of Explosives Trades Ltd, later Nobel Industries, before finally passing to I.C.I. I.C.I ended gunpowder production in Faversham in 1934, moving the operation to Ardeer, although actual production at the Home Works may have finished after the First World War. The sites of the mills have largely been built over although a few buildings remain, in particular part of Chart Mill which was rebuilt and repaired by the Faversham Society in the 1960's.(1)

The Cranstone Consultancy, 1993, Monuments Protection Programme: The Gunpowder Industry Combined Steps 1-3 Report (Unpublished document). SKE17244.

English Heritage Monuments Protection Programme, 1998, Monuments Protection Programme: Gunpowder Industry (Unpublished document). SKE7298.

<1> English Heritage, 1998, Monuments Protection Programme: Gunpowder Industry (Unpublished document). SWX6799.

Sources and further reading

Related records